B17 Bomber Flight

By Shawn McKee

Video from the flight here

On Sunday I got to take a ride on a real B-17 bomber. Since my trip to Germany to visit the WW2 crash site where my uncle Raymond's plane crashed during a bombing mission in WWII, I have wanted to see one of these plane close up. Wow, what an experience.  It's a living museum. Completely original in every way except that the engines continue to be overhauled every 1000 hours.  The flight is made possibly by a very crafty group of volunteers and pilots from the Commemorative Air Force organization, or CAF. This group came over from Texas to show the flying relic of world war two.

More info on this particular plane can be found here http://gulfcoastwing.org/trhistory.html

I enjoyed every minute of the experience. With open windows, original equipment on the plane, and wooden seats to strap into, it was amazing. The smooth gracefulness of the take-off at only 110 mph is right in step with impressions of those days in 1945. Hard hand crafted metal mechanical stuff all over the plane display the utilitarian nature of this plane. There were also some very sophisticated bombing sights and electric motor driven gun turrets that would have been state of the art in the day. Still impressive today.

I have to admit it was historic and emotional to see the plane taxi up to the line, but after lifting off and sticking my head out the window like a 2 year-old Labrador Retriever, I was just having fun.  Cruising over New Orleans on a mock bombing run at 1500 feet, so slow you could watch people on the street and see them looking up at you, it's easy to imagine dropping heavy things on buildings from that deck. Not as easy to imagine fighter planes buzzing around though. Every part of that old plane was built for lifting, durability, and viewing the ground. What a classic airship. One that will never be needed again. I can see how the crews became attached to their planes.

"Don't lean too far out the windows. There is a little suction that will steal your cap, sunglasses, toupees." we were told in the pre-flight instruction. We also were warned not to grab the silver cables running through the top of the cabin. "We use these to fly the plane."   Indeed, you could watch the rudders and elevator being controlled by these cables just over your head.

An amazing flying piece of history. And what a great way to see the Crescent City.

Here is the actual flight path as recorded by my run app on my phone.

Shawn